Whole Foods employee in Greenwich dies after contracting coronavirus
GREENWICH — A grocery store worker at Whole Foods on East Putnam Avenue died Sunday with coronavirus, the chain confirmed Wednesday.
A company spokesman said Wednesday that the man, whose name and age were not disclosed, was the only confirmed death of a Whole Foods employee in Connecticut, though fatalities have been reported at other grocery store chains statewide and regionally. Whole Foods, owned by Amazon, has 12 Connecticut locations.
“We have lost a member of the Whole Foods Market community, who passed away on May 10 from complications of COVID-19,” the Whole Foods spokesman said in a statement. “This is a tragic loss for his loved ones and for his fellow team members at our Greenwich, CT store. We are offering our support and providing counseling services as they process this difficult loss.”
The announcement came amid an uncertain time for grocery store workers.
There have been reports of grocery store worker deaths related to COVID-19 in Bridgeport and Scarsdale, N.Y. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) said last month that at least 72 members had died and more than 5,322 had been directly impacted.
Mark Espinosa, president of a Farmington-based local chapter of UFCW, which represents roughly 7,000 grocery workers, most of whom work for Stop & Shop, said there were two confirmed deaths among his members. Roughly 100 of the chapter’s workers had been directly affected and 600 were opting to stay home because they were fearful of contracting the virus.
Whole Foods employees, who are not part of a union, have also opted to stay home nationwide.
Around the country, employees from companies like Amazon, Instacart, Wal-Mart, Target, FedEx and Whole Foods, have staged walkouts or “sickouts” in protest of working conditions.
At least some Whole Foods around the country have closed because multiple employees have become infected. Others were converted to online-only markets.